Acrylic leg connection to wood

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We have a client looking for a console table solid walnut top with a clear acrylic 24" wide leg which would be connected about an inch back from the wood edge. Question is- Anyone have advice on the connection? Our thought was a 1" deep mortise into 1-1/2" solid, and glue it in with epoxy, or some other adhesive. Its a relatively small table, but the concern would be if there is any lateral force applied obviously.

Pretty sure there isn't an adhesive solution of acrylic to wood. The wood is going to move, and acrylic moves, but not at the same rate. I would glue an acrylic plate to the top of the leg, then screw to the wood from underneath through slots to allow for wood movement. Another option is to drill and tap the acrylic, bolt on a piece of aluminum or wood on top, then connect.

We use acrylic for our furniture once in a while. I would order the acrylic slab with a right angle piece on the top and recess that into the top with epoxy and T nuts or wood screws. The acrylic people know how to fuse the parts together with no seams and it is strong.

blind dado it in and have the dado 1/8 bigger and silicone it in place. this is what we do for glass handrails in metal channels. Silicone has give which will allow for wood movement which epoxy will not.

Looks like the table is relatively thick. Dado out a slot that will fit the acrylic panel snugly. Drill through the thickness of the acrylic, maybe 3/8" hole and insert a steel or aluminum rod through it, something that fits snug. Mortise slots in the underside of the table radiating from the slot that will let the steel rods fit into it. Apply a bead of silicone to the bottom of the dado and insert the acrylic with the steel rods into it and apply clamping pressure. Fill the mortises with a gap filling epoxy and then put a wood filler on top of the rods to secure them into the mortises. Let it cure.

There is a correct adhesive for your application. In the boat construction industry we have used a product called Plexus adhesive. Its not epoxy. Its methacrylate. It is used for bonding fiberglass deck/hull joints. I know about because we used it to bond aluminum mainsail track to a carbon fiber mast on a 50' racing sailboat. You can't mechanically fasten to the carbon. It is also sticks to a wider variety of substrates including many plastics that are generally unbondable.

I needed a small bit for bonding plastic to a carbon mast and found this product which is labeled epoxy, but if you read the back it is methacrylate. It smells like cutting plexi glass on a tablesaw. Super stinky for about a day.

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